Thailand vol 1: Pak Chong, Khao Yai & Bangkok

FLIGHTS

I need to slowly start writing about our trip to Thailand that took place over Christmas and New Year while I am still remembering it. 😀 Funny to think, that we bought plane tickets already April last year, around the same time I am writing this post. I was so in between if we should wait or buy. The price was already quite expensive for the peak season and I am happy to share that the price did not get cheaper over the time. We bought direct flights from Copenhagen to Bangkok with Thai Airways and Kevin´s brothers with their girlfriends bought connection flights, those were slightly cheaper. The plane tickets cost around 11000 dkk per person (1400 EUR). I must say that the hotels were also more expensive than usually during this peak period. Only cheap thing was still food.😀

Visiting waterfall

Xmas on a plane ❣️

TIMING

In terms of vacation days from work, it was perfect timing, since I only had to take 10 days of for 3 weeks of vacation. Actually already after 2 weeks, I started to feel tired of vacation. 🫣 We wanted to go during this time since we mostly have been in Thailand during June and July. The good thing about the Xmas season is that it is not so hot and humid, no rain and no mosquitos. We only got some bites close to jungle in Khao Yai national park. The downside is that the temperature in the pools is not that warm yet, so the swimming has refreshing experience. Sea temperature is still fine for swimming but it is not like you would like to stay all day in the water.  Also long clothes are needed during early morning and late at night. However, perfect weather for sightseeing and exploring, usually we could be outside only max an hour until need to hide in the air conditioned room .So maybe the sweat spot visiting time is rather in February, when pools are warmer or more towards Phuket when visiting in January?! Anyways, it was still nice and warm, I got a lot of sun and swam a lot too. 😊

Traffic in Bangkok

GREW

We were travelling with Kevin´s mum and his half brother with girlfriends. We stayed together during first week in Pak Chong and Bangkok. Second week we were in different hotels in Koh Chang and met occasionally with the brothers and in Pattaya we also stayed in different hotels. We proffered more expensive hotels with kids club and kids pool. 

Having fun in Runch

PAK CHONG

When we arrived to Bangkok, we straight rented a van with a driver to ride to Pak Chong, stay there for 2 nights and then back to Bangkok The van was pre booked and we all, 7 grown-ups and 2 kids with luggage's fit in. We had also took the car seats for kids from Denmark. We stayed in the Khao Yai natural resort hotel that was in Harry Potter themed. It was nothing fancy, but it had a good vibe and a lot of activities for kids. I heard that it is not really allowed to build hotels to national park, but this was a special sustainability and community managed hotel. The only downside was that it was a bit of the ride there from the biggest city Pak Chong.

Pool with cold water

In Pak Chong we visited Kevin´s grandmother and the night market. That is where is the best street food. It was also quite convenient with the driver since he could just drop us off and go find a parking spot.

Kevin´s granny (dad´s side) 😊

KHAO YAI

One full day we spent in Khao Yai national park. I chose 3 spots from google maps to visit. To enter the national park, tourist need to buy a ticket and also pay fee for the car. We first went to the waterfall, where I actually had been before during my first trip to Thailand with Kevin. Now it was more developed with some restaurants and there was also a place to rent a canoe. The good advice is to go swim in the morning when water is more swallow and less people. The water was not the warmest though, but super clean due to springs. 

Great swimming spot

The next stop was already in the national park viewing spot. The national park is through jungle. We see some monkeys and wild elephants. Luckily no tigers even though we were debating who should remain to fight and who will get to run. 😀

View from the viewpoint

The last spot was on another waterfall. Some waterfalls are further from parking lot, so they might close down the access early to make sure people get back before the dark. 

Trying to not be eaten by tiger 😀

Once out from the national park, we had a stop in one fancier restaurant in one hotel. From previous experience I knew that fancy restaurant in Thailand does not mean automatically a good food, hence I decided just to get a drink and let others regret all the money spent. 🫣

Family picture by the springs

On a way to Bangkok we also made a stop in local Ranch. It was quite interesting to see Thai people being cowboys. But it was refreshing and surrounded by nice nature. Kids also enjoyed it.

My buddy 😉

BANGKOK

Accommodation

We stayed in Bangkok for 4 nights and for the New Years Eve. We had rented an apartment in the apartment building. At first it did smell like a scam, since there was nobody to let us in, but luckily somebody game in the end, so not the best check-in experience.

Apartment building pool

But the apartment was nice. On the 18th floor with the nice view to the skyline. We had a 2 bedroom apartment. Kids slept on the couch and Kevin´s mum had the other bedroom, so we actually got to go out couple of nights to explore the rooftop bars, that was super nice. The building also had the rooftop swimming pool and small gym with the view. The only down side with the apartment was the location, since it was about 20 minute walking distance from the biggest mall and same for the closest metro. The streets in Bangkok have improved a lot, but still not the best for walking or strolling with small kids. 

Fun Tuk-tuk ride

There was also super posh reformer Pilates studio in the same building. I went for one training and there were only 5 reformer machines and the price per class was also relatively premium for Thailand, approximately 30 euros per class. 

Rooftop cocktails 🤗

Something surprising about Thailand is also the fact that now you can get a good cup of coffee in almost every corner shop. However, need to be quite cautious about the price since you might end up paying more than in Europe. Also the food budget will get quite big if eating out in restaurants as the cheap part is only the street food. However there are also food delivery apps, that work very well. Only might need Thai phone number for that. 

View from apartment

Khao San Road

This is the big party road in Bangkok. They sell souvenirs there and you can get some street food. There are also many restaurants with loud music. The goal is to play louder than neighbour bar, so you could not hear the other´s music. I had to put some drops on my ear as it was super loud. We also ended up in one rooftop bar, there was a bit less people and I forgot my sweater there. We were already about to grab a taxi when I realized. It was my favourite sweater, so me and Kevin went back and luckily they had put it a side to me. Kevin´s brothers with their girlfriends took taxi back home earlier. 

Ready for New Year celebration

New Years Eve

We had booked river cruise for the New Years Eve with buffet dinner. The boarded to the boat around 20-21. It was cruising around the river through Bangkok and back. The food was surprisingly good, it had both international and Thai food. My favourite was sushi. Some drinks were also included, but I would not say it was the best cocktails ever. There was also live music and some show. Later there was a DJ and dancefloor went wild. Kids also survived the trip and the fireworks were with the best view. In Bangkok, only official fireworks are allowed, so you do not see anybody doing any fireworks after midnight.

Some shopping 😊

The night was very fun. Even Kevin´s mum got a bit tipsy and dance a lot since she could not feel her injured knees due to alcohol. 😁 At one point Nolan got missing for couple of minutes and Kevin´s mum managed to alert the the ship grew to start looking at him, but Nolan had already arrived back to our table.

One of the many Xmas trees

We were back at the shore around 1am. The hardest part was to get the taxi back home, since there were a lot of people. Public transport basically did not go anymore. The smart think would be to book a transfer. Luckily Kevin spoke Thai and managed to negotiate a taxi back home. We did pay quite a lot in Thai context, but quite lucky that we even got one. So need to be smart about going out on New Years Eve if the desire is to make home before morning. 

Jurassic World

This was a new attraction in Bangkok. They are imitating the Jurassic World, were you go on the island to visit dinosaurs and then the Jurassic Park collapsed and dinosaurs were breaking in and all people need to be evacuated. The employees were acting quite well and the dinosaur robots seamed quite real hence even Nolan got scared and started running fast once they announce everybody need to evacuate. 😁 The experience lasted for about an hour. There are also many cafes and restaurants close by and a playground.  

Before kids got scared 😀

Copper Beyond Buffet

This was not on my to do list but I did not want to stay home alone with kids hence tagged along. For the once who appreciate premium food and all you can eat, this would definitely be heaven. They had huge selection of different dishes and a lot of fresh wish, shrimps. I definitely were full. Kevin and his brothers were in 7-heaven and even kids ate some food. 

Xmas vibe in the malls

Overall, I was positively impressed about Bangkok and would even just consider going there for relaxing week to just feel the environment, shop, eat, visit rooftop bars. The apartments should have the pool though and it was quite enjoyable with being high up and enjoy the skyline. The city was also much cleaner as I remembered it from 7 years ago. 

Happy 2026! 🤗